Sunday, February 10, 2013

Clif-Notes: Green Lantern - New Guardians

When the New 52 started up, I was looking at getting three of the four Lantern Books (Lantern, Corps and Red Lanterns). The one I didn't want? New Guardians. Writing this new title was Tony Bedard, with whom I have a sketchy past with. His GrossGen stuff (Mystic, Negation, Route 666) was pretty decent. Not brilliant but good, solid reads. After that is when he started loosing me. He killed Exiles (lazy bugs? Lazy bugs are the reason for it all?) and he's the reason I stopped getting GL Corps the first time around. Now he's put in charge of New Guardians in which Kyle Rayner must lead a ragtag group of Lanterns from each of the factions: Fatality (Sapphire), Bleez (Rage), Arkillo (Fear - as the last Yellow and Sinestro going back to Green, he refuses to call it the Sinestro Corps), Glomulus (an Avarice construct of Larfleeze), Munk (Indigo) and Saint Walker (Hope).
The first half-ish of the current run was very "meh" to me. Somebody had stolen a ring from each faction and they all tried to attach to Rayner at the same time. The obvious thing is to then assume that Rayner did it but after proving he didn't, they went to the man of greed, Larfleeze. He claims he did nothing as he and his slave, former Guardian Sayd, convince them to go fight this big dude named Invictus with whom Larfleeze has a long history with. This part, to me, was also stupid. After that, the Scarabs from Blue Beetle (also a dumb, Bedard title) attacked the home-world of the Blue Lanterns, causing them to leave it behind. Also pointless (for now). However, after this part, things really picked up.
Saint Walker believe Larfleeze was the one behind giving up the location of their world so everybody wants answers. In doing this, we actually come to find out the things have all been the plan of Sayd. As the former love of Ganthet (who has been stripped of his emotions and taken by the Guardians), she wants to free him. She is the one who took the Lantern Rings and sent them to Rayner in the hope that him being a "special" Lantern (t'was not the ring that choose him but Ganthet, not to mention his time as Ion and being the next big deal for the Lanterns), he could harness them all and help free the man she loves. Rayner begins to journey to each of the Lanterns, trying to get their help on how to harness that emotion. As he has already been a part of them all, he just needs to learn how to tap into it. And what a perfect time for this to happen then during the Rise of the Third Army. Carol has joined back up as her Sapphire-self in hopes that Rayner can help find Jordan. Through each emotion, Rayner is able to tap in and use that power whenever he needs. However, it's not enough to save Sayd from the Third Army, as she sacrifices herself to help him get away. It's in trying to connect to Love that Rayner finally comes face-to-face with Ganthet, who does the typical villain stuff of saying how impossible it all is and how he'll never know love. And then he kills him. But apparently in death, you learn Love the most as Rayner is able to come back with Love. In finding the final Emotion, Kyle Rayner has now been turned into the White Lantern.However, this is where NG ends and everything continues over into Corps Annual where the Third Army story ends. Kinda. It actually just leads into the next story, Wrath of the First Lantern.
Bedard may be a choppy writer at best but I will give him this: the concept of this story and it's setup is pretty great. Harnessing each emotion and turning into the White Lantern is perfect for him. It again separates him from the other Earth Lanterns and gives his a role that is unique. The writing may not have matched the story (and for all I know, Geoff Johns coulda been a big reason behind the story) but Bedard has started to win me back over. Here's to hoping that the next year and a half is as uphill as the last.